Council objects to proposed state statutory amendments that could conflict with incorporated county charter

Council considered a package of proposed statutory amendments to New Mexico county law and passed a motion instructing the chair to register a formal objection. The objection cited four concerns: potential conflicts with Los Alamos County's charter (which derives from the state constitution's provision for incorporated counties), failure to recognize the different elected offices and structure of incorporated counties, and risk of improperly burdening locally reserved self‑government powers.

County legal staff explained that some proposed changes treat all counties uniformly without accommodating the constitutional carve‑out for incorporated counties and that clarifying amendments could reconcile the proposals with Los Alamos' charter. Council voted 6–0 (Counselor Hand absent) to ask the state's working group to revise language to recognize incorporated counties and to authorize county counsel to work with sponsors on appropriate amendments prior to a potential final vote.